FALLing Back to Normalcy (temporarily)

It came and went in the blink of an eye... again!  Another transatlantic trip under my belt.  Experiences so meaningful are difficult to put into words.

In real life, my trip was not all I dreamt it to be. I dreamt of sitting at a wedding spending lots of time with two of my best friends, my man, and my parents. I dreamt of showing off my university to Esteban, while reliving the past with many other great friends.  I dreamt of the Red Jug Pub, of T-shirts and Ho Chi Minh, of Hairy Tony's Nacho's and of Long Beach Iced Teas. I dreamt of walking up my college hills, of visiting professors, turning back time. I dreamt of pumpkin picking in a wild field and of making pumpkin pie and celebrating fall. I dreamt of jumping into piles of leaves and of wine tasting and drunk strolls through Greenport, as well as normal, breathtaking strolls through NYC while inhaling the scent of hot dogs and roasted nuts.

Well, thanks to an unexpected, freakishly unnormal hurricane... all plans were put on hold. Well, almost all. I still had a great time at my best friends wedding. However, I did not get to catch up much with my friends there.        

The next day, when I was supposed to be taking off for a trip to my school to see 4 fantastic friends (or more!) I had to make a tough decision and analyze weather maps and trends etc. I tracked hurricane Sandy and based on her projected path and strength, that I was either going to become stranded in my parents house, or upstate near my university. Bridges, tunnels and trains were projected to close. The threat of floods loomed over Long Island and Binghamton. I decided I would rather be stranded at home, with the comfort of home, my family and the few belongings I still had there.

I still got to do some things on my bucket list, like eat bagels, pizza and drink massive amounts of deli/7eleven coffee with flavored creamers. I also did get a pumpkin, but from a fruit stand/farm with strategically placed pumpkins (We did carve it though, and roast the seeds!) I did get to go shopping at the gap, target, and bought lots of shoes, vitamins and floss. We took a few walks, ate some mexican, lots of pepper jack cheese, rode the bicycle built for two, and had lots of family time. We also squeezed in a road trip out east to Montauk, then to Cutchogue for some wine tasting.

A beautiful Eastern Long Island Mirador

National Landmark thanks to G. Washington

What did I realize this trip?

Going back to the states doesn't give me such reverse culture shock anymore. It is easier for me to change the chip in my brain! I can easily maneuver a toilet and hearing English doesn't send my ears on supersonic mode. I remember how to drive a car with confidence and it doesn't seem so much like a dream.

I notice that I temporarily slip into a Long Island accent, and crave things I don't usually crave (i.e. grilled cheese and waffles)  I don't feel so much as a stranger as I did in the past, after a shorter time being away. Why could this be? Could it be that I've found someone that makes me so happy, that some void inside has been filled? Or am I just more accustomed to going back and forth?

I also have realized that coming back to Spain has become incredibly harder. The past two times (plus the time my parents came to Madrid) it has ripped me apart inside, leaving me with a broken heart, as well as exhausted, and craving chocolate. I've given this a lot of thought.... its all Estebans fault. 

Being with him makes me so incredibly giddy and happy... but it makes my dream of living in Spain forever a possible reality. Life in pre-Esteban times, I thought "yeah, I'm going to live in Spain forever!" But now, what if I really do? Can I handle that? That is scary... something so permanent becoming a reality. Forever is a LONG TIME!

What will become of my life? Where will I go? Can I get some sign, some sort of hint, of at least a continent? Maybe a country?

Today at the mall, I saw this quote on a picture frame, I had to look away and hold back my emotions... is this some sort of SIGN?

Spaniards' First Hurricane

If I had known there was a hurricane brewing in the Atlantic in late October, I possibly would have reconsidered my trip...

Ok that's a lie... but Sandy seriously came as a huge surprise to me! I found out while my dad was driving us down the Southern State parkway. I almost missed it while admiring the beautiful foliage! 

Another Hurricane???? I always seem to come home just in time for extreme weather and natural disasters! December 2010: Noreaster with inches and inches of snow, closing airports for 2 days.  August/September 2011: freak-earthquake followed by Hurricane Irene.

Just my luck.

Well, thanks to Irene of 2011, I didn't take Sandy so seriously. Long Island news loves to hype up hurricanes, next thing you know people are clearing supermarkets of bread, water, and non perishables. People are strapping generators onto their cars, and loading up sandbags. What happens next? Nothing. Some rain, a little  power outage, and a some wind gusts.

This is my house.... note the lack of water under the deck area

Well this year was different. 

Stores started closing the day before the hurricane at 5 pm... meanwhile wind gusts picked up. The clouds made their way in, and so did the fear. Ok, its time to take this seriously. I cancelled my trip to my University to see my best friends ever (sad face) and decided if I have to be stranded someplace, I'd rather be stranded in my parents house with them, rather than in central new york with townies. 

Anyway, Monday we decided to take full advantage of cable and electricity, fearing the inevitable: power outages. Low and behold, around 430pm, during the last 3 minutes of Hocus Pocus, the power went out. 

We taped up windows, removed lawn furniture, parked the cars on the highest part of our lawn. Bring it on Sandy!

Right before nightfall, disaster struck! Our boat, Hawaii Kai broke loose from her bulkhead! She started swinging around, hanging on by one rope. We all put on some crappy clothes, broke out the galoshes and life vests  and went out to the battlefield. We tred through the water which was up to our knees immediately. Dad quickly demanded I go back into the house where it was safe and dry, but I decided to play on the deck instead. 

the 90 mph wind gusts were almost too much to handle!

Finally the boat was tied securely to the dock. Time to take things extra seriously.... So we got some boards and using light from pocket sized flashlights, we boarded up our large sliding door/window that sounded like it was about to break.

Then we broke out the glowsticks and the dance moves.... and wine and cheese. 
Hurricane party!
We kept an eye on the boat, but it was hard to see... until suddenly the boat came into vision! Where is that light coming from? The full moon! One of the dangerous factors of Hurricane Sandy.... that whore. 

By 9pm, I was exhausted, so we cuddled up into bed, and fell asleep to the sound of the wind shaking the house. 

I felt like a kid on christmas, I couldn't sleep! At 2 am I crawled out of bed with my flashlight to investigate:
Street and yard: Flooded
Garage: Flooded
Boat: sideways. I slightly panicked... until I saw that the boat had ripped out the dock it was secured to, and trapped itself into our boat slip. Better than nothing. 

The next morning we surveyed the damage. Flooding in the basement and garage, one damaged car, a beached boat. Could have been worse.

As for a Spaniards' perspective? I believed that he loved it. It was exciting and thrilling, especially because we were safe the whole time. Although we lost power for 48 hours, we were able to visit grandma's house to shower and have a pizza =)

I think Estebans favorite part of the hurricane was definately the clean up. He got to use lots of tools, wear big yellow boots, and drive a lawnmower... his first week on lawn duty and he did great!

could be the cover of a newspaper

S.O.S SAVE OUR SHIP!